Senator Diane Feinstein says that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligencemay open an investigation into allegations that the Bush White House attempted to use the CIA to have my reputation destroyed in 2005-2006. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) refuses to have the House intelligence committee look into it, trying to kick it to Eric Holder at the Department of Justice. If the House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee is not interested in whether the Bush White House and the CIA broke the law by targeting an American author on US soil, then frankly we have an answer to Ben Franklin’s concerns; after the Constitutional Convention he is said to have been asked about the form of the new government and to have replied, “A Republic– if you can keep it.” Guess not so much.

The Boston Globe editorial board differs with Rogers, calling for a full congressional investigation as well as one by the CIA Inspector General. The Globe notes that then Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte’s response to the scandal, that he has no memory of the event but that others in his office may have been approached by the White House about me, is hardly a decisive refutation of the charges. Negroponte is now “a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.”

‘Judging from Senator Feinstein’s quote, the scope and goals of this initial effort to look into the story are unclear, but at a minimum, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are now taking a first step in that direction. This could also force a public relitigation of the Bush administration’s efforts to sell the Iraq War to the public — a topic that is likely to stir intense passions on both sides.’

Well if all this could be an occasion finally to look into the propaganda campaign whereby we were inveigled into the Iraq War, that would make it all worth it. But actually I don’t know what passions could any longer be stirred about it. Most people know the whole thing was a joint Oil Man/ Neocon get-up job.

Salon.com has put together a reading list of my articles for them in the period during which the Bush White House was interested in having the CIA “get” me.

18 Responses

Don’t count on Diane Feinstein for anything. She’s a Defense Dept. lobbyist posing as a politician. If the military invites her to review the troops, she forgets everything else she was doing and checks her make-up.

But she’s not alone. The military junta that rules the US can get Congress to vote any way it wants by just threatening to withdraw contracts or shut down bases in their districts. Remember Iran-Contra when Congress tried to defund an illegal war? Remember when the Pentagon lost, mislaid, or otherwise couldn’t account for $2.3 trillion? No investigation was forthcoming, no heads rolled, nobody was punished, fired, or demoted, and the defense budget has continued to expand in subsequent years without any regard for accountability whatsoever. Our elected officials can no more hold the ruling military junta accountable than we can hold our elected officials accountable.

Ben Franklin outright lied. He knew darned well that there was nothing in the Constitution that would allow us to hold our representatives accountable, that therefore we would not be able to exercise our will through them, and that therefore the Constitution had established neither a democracy nor a republic, but a plutocracy. When he withheld the anti-slavery petition he’d been sent to the Constitutional Convention to present, so as not to offend the slave states, it was clear that his priority was ratification, not democracy.

Bingo. Agree. If Feinstein has her way she will shut down any attempt to investigate. Especially if the push for going after Cole came from any of her warmongering friends pushing the invasion of Iraq. She did vote for the 2002 Iraq war resolution. She did go along with that push for that illegal and immoral invasion. Any attempt to investigate this situation will stop with her.link to alternet.org

There needs to be investigations into her families war profiteering.
Dianne Feinstein resigns committee post amid scandal; accused of war profiteering
This story is from the Silicon Valley Metro (ht: Robert, our intrepid copyeditor):

SEN. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. As previously and extensively reviewed in these pages, Feinstein was chairperson and ranking member of MILCON for six years, during which time she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum’s ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein.

“At the least, the CIA’s inspector general needs to investigate. If requests to dig up dirt on Cole did come from the White House, the inspector general inquiry should determine who authorized them, what the responses were, and whether the administration sought to discredit anyone else. As Cole put it on his blog, “I know I am a relatively small fish, and it seems to me rather likely that I was not the only target.’’

As Cole has said he is a “small fish” but not really. If they open up this can of worms who else did they go after. We know Scott Ritter, Plame

It was just wrong. Plain and simple wrong for that white house employee to request the CIA’s investigation of Juan Cole. I feel the White House, Bush’s or Obama’s would find Juan Cole’s decades of historical study to be extremely valuable for understanding who is out there in the Near East. It was not President Bush that went after Juan Cole, but it was some self appointed mind guard of the President. Anoter perfect example proving Ivan Janis was correct about Groupthink. These errors in decision caused by Groupthink always generate fiascos like this.

Just google. “Menwith Hill”.
When the CIA, NSA etc wants to spy on the US or US citizens, they just outsorce it.
In this case they/ we set up a facility in England, staffed with 95% US agents, and a frosting of 5% Brits.
It then gets labeled as a British site, so that their local media doesn’t freak out with all those US spy’s on their home turf.

“Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) refuses to have the House intelligence committee … “

Professor Cole do not expect support from Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers is part of the problem in Washington; he is not part of the solution. Mr. Rogers was the framer of illegal wiretapping of citizens.

There has been an abundance of wrongful and illegal invasions into people who live in Mike Rogers home county of Livingston , it is openly said his home county, “Nothing happens without the Rogers family permission”

Cole “Well if all this could be an occasion finally to look into the propaganda campaign whereby we were inveigled into the Iraq War, that would make it all worth it.”

That is not going to happen. If hundreds of thousands dead, injured and millions displaced in IRaq as well as 4500 and counting dead American soldiers, tens of thousands injured is not going to get them looking into the WMD lies then the Bush administration trying to take you down sure is not going to get them moving. They have to have lies under oath about BJ’s to get their justice juices going. Hundreds of thousands dead as a result of a pack of lies just does not get it for them.

Amazing to think about of the work that went into investigating Iraq pre war intelligence… Phase I and Phase II and absolutely no one has been held accountable for any of the falsehoods that were endlessly repeated. Niger Documents? No one held accountable

Tom

In a just world, this would be investigated and any guilty party would be fired.

However, as Kathleen said, if millions of dead and injured and all the squandered billions cannot provoke an actual investigation, what makes one think that the establishment and the media will demand an investigation into an “ivory tower” academic?